Remembering Dave: A Decade Later

I'm thinking about my friend Dave today, who we lost unexpectedly 10 years ago now. It really makes you wonder where the time has gone?

Dave and I met on our first day of film school at orientation and became fast friends. In addition to the countless uni stories and film projects that followed, it was in the two years before his death that we created some of our best memories. For two consecutive years each fall we road tripped cross country to end up in Southern California where we spent a lot of time getting lost in the desert (where this pic was snapped in Joshua Tree).

I still credit these early adventures for my continued road trip addiction to this day.

The thing about losing one of your best friends so young is that those formative years you spent together feel like a lifetime in themselves. The cruel thing is that as we grow up we're reminded of how much we've actually missed getting to share with them.

A lot of my memories of Dave are locked in time, but it's funny how his voice will still creep into an anecdote or how something insignificant will tap into a seemingly forgotten story every once and awhile. In my head we're still cracking jokes about each other lol.

It's a regular reminder to not take the small stuff for granted. To make as many memories as possible while you can. To surround yourself with people who make you laugh. 

All of that stays with you.

I miss you buddy.

Exploring the Salton Sea in California

Compelling history, abandoned landmarks, and monumental artwork. The Salton Sea in California is a location wrapped up in mystery, failed attempts, reinvention, and numerous possibilities. 

Once a tourist's playground in the sixties, today the Salton Sea is a playground for abandoned explorers in places like Bombay Beach, for art lovers in places like Salvation Mountain, for architecture enthusiasts in places like the restored North Shore Yacht Club, and for escapists in places like Slab City. Here are just a few visual highlights I've captured over the years as part of my Roadside California travel series. Explore more here. 

Standing at the top of Salvation Mountain.

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

On a cloudy Palm Springs, California morning I made my way to the Aerial Tramway to get a few shots of the San Jacinto mountains and the Valley Station designed by Albert Frey. Constructed in the early 1960s, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is regarded as an engineering marvel because of its place in the rugged Chino Canyon. It's currently the largest rotating tramway in the world and takes travelers from the desert to an alpine landscape in mere minutes.

I couldn't come back to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway without thinking about my previous visits. On both our road trips through California, my friend Dave and I visited the tramway to get views of the Coachella valley. During our first visit in 2009 I captured a bit of video of what the experience was like, and it's still one of my favorite clips of that trip. It's funny how so many memories come flooding back just by being in the same spot again. I reflected on Dave's passing, and as the view became obscured by a sea of white as I reached the peak, there was something almost heavenly about hiking above the clouds.